VA-72 out of NAS Cecil Field, Florida, crashes into a wooded area W of Lake City, Florida after pilot Lt. Cmdr. Robert W. McKay, 34, ejects from the crippled jet. "He suffered no apparent injuries", a Navy spokesman said. "He was picked up by the Highway Patrol and will be returned to Cecil Field on a Navy helicopter." 5 April A U.S. Navy Douglas A-3B Skywarrior, BuNo 138917, c/n 10778, of VAH-123, departs NAS Miramar, California, for NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, on an instrument check flight, but crashes into a mountain in northeastern California in the vicinity of Eagle Peak in the Warner Mountains, ~15 miles SE of Alturas, California, killing all four aboard. The aircraft was in clouds at FL 180 when it struck terrain covered in four to six feet of snow, and disintegrated at the 7,000 foot level. Hand-off from Oakland Center was not received by Seattle Center. KWF were Lt. Cdr. Donald E. King, 36, instructor pilot; Lt. Cdr. Richard E. Parks, pilot; AMM3 Carl V. Miller, 23, crewman-navigator; and Lt. Cdr. James M. Reader, passenger. 13 April Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7966, Article 2017, crashed near Las Vegas, New Mexico, after a night refuelling devolved into a subsonic high-speed stall. Pilot Boone and RSO Sheffield eject safely. 21 April Fourth prototype Grumman F-111B, BuNo 151973, c/n A2-04, suffers flame-out of both engines at 200 feet after take-off, killing the project pilot Ralph Donnell and co-pilot Charles Wangeman. 24 April Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies during reentry of Soyuz 1 – parachute lines tangled during re-entry. Crashed to ground. First person to die while on a space mission. 25 April A U.S. Air Force Lockheed EC-121H-LO Warning Star, 53-549, of the 551st AEWCW, out of Otis AFB, Massachusetts, ditches in the North Atlantic ~one mile off of Nantucket, Massachusetts, just after having taken off from that base. One survivor, 15 crew KWF. Five bodies were not recovered. Col. James P. Lyle, the Commander of the 551st AEW&C Wing to which all the aircraft and crew members were assigned, was the pilot. Colonel Lyle had been assigned to take over that command nine months earlier. It was he who presented each of the next of kin of 11 November 1966 crash victims with the United States Flag during that memorial service. 10 May First (of five) LTV XC-142As, 62-5921, crashes on 149th flight during simulated downed-pilot recovery mission test. Rapid